The National Democratic Congress Chapter in the United States of America has noted that the 24-hour economy initiative by the Former President John Dramani Mahama is the new deal for Ghana to restore freedom.

They noted that in a press release that John Dramani Mahama's 24-hour economy plan is the equivalent of America's new deal of the 1930s.

"It is the rope that would pull Ghana out of the economic bottomless pit she has been plunged by the Nana Akufo-Addo/Mahamudu Bawumia administration".

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The 24-hour Economy is Ghana’s New Deal (Restoring Freedom) – NDC USA

The New Deal program, initiated by Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) in 1932, has been credited as the vital intervention that restored faith in democracy in the modern era. As a comprehensive policy response to the vagaries of the Great Depression, the New Deal reversed the gloomy American economy, provided lasting conditions of work and happiness, and restored freedom to the American people. The impact of the program on American society began even before FDR became president. It started with his now famous speech “The forgotten Man,” in his bid to become the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate. The promise of the New Deal in that speech touched the Democratic Party voters, who in turn, honored FDR with the candidacy. It also touched majority of Americans who made the candidate the 32nd president of the United States. And FDR did not fail to deliver on his policy proposal.

Like the grave emergency that America faced in the throes of the Great Depression, Kwame Nkrumah’s Ghana is faced with a similarly grave emergency that requires a bold policy response that would restore faith in her nascent democratic experiment. To compare Ghana’s current condition to the appearance of a flower that has been robbed of its colors is not a matter for political punditry; it is a grave concern that Ghanaians must take seriously. Even the people who lived through the period of severe food scarcity caused by the worst drought in Ghana’s history (1981-1983) exacerbated by the ‘Ghana Must Go’ mass deportation of Ghanaians from Nigeria, cannot recall a moment in history more sorrowful and more pitiful than the scenes currently before our eye. There is a complete societal collapse and loss of freedom – retirees have been dispossessed of their pension and are dying prematurely due to homelessness and lack of healthcare; there is sky-high unemployment, leading to industrial scale gambling and prostitution, aka betting and hookup respectively among our youth.

John Dramani Mahama (JDM)’s 24-hour economy plan is the equivalent of America’s New Deal of the 1930s. It is the rope that would pull Ghana out of the economic bottomless pit she has been plunged by the Nana Akuffo Addo/ Mahamudu Bawumia administration. The plan has the potential to grant a sustained respite to the over 60% of the population who are currently in extreme financial distress. It is the ultimate key to ensure freedom to all Ghanaians.

No wonder the announcement of the proposal has caught the NPP flatfooted. Driven by envy, they found themselves in a state of ambivalence upon hearing JDM’s bold idea, which they know they cannot equal. On one hand, they argue that the 24-hour economy already exists in Ghana. On the other hand, they are trying hard to dismiss the idea as too lofty an ambition.

If the audacity of JDM’s ambition with the 24-hour economy is a bad one, then the blame ought to go the NPP for sullying Nkrumah’s Ghana to a degree that the incoming NDC government is left with no choice but to labor tirelessly to procure a restorative policy that is gallant enough to match the proportion of the indignity.

What Ghanaians, however, cannot afford is the soil for the seeds of doubt that the NPP would attempt to sow regarding whether JDM will deliver on his plan or not. And it will be done by no other a person than the man who has now earned the reputation of the proverbial Used Car Salesman. If the idea of the 24-hour economy was only to serve the purpose of a catchy campaign slogan, to hoodwink Ghanaians into voting for the NDC, who better to advice against it than JDM? He is not a man of gimmicks, but a man of integrity who stands for the forgotten man!

JDM’s 24-hour economy proposal was carefully baked in the oven of thorough research, broad policy consultation, and intense debate. Ghanaians are responding positively to it not only because it is a good plan, but the 24-hour economy as a deliberate policy has been implemented in various forms in many parts of the world by corporations and governments alike with resounding success. However, we are also guided by Alexis de Tocqueville who, upon discovery in England and Sicily that the division of land into small holdings worked successfully whereas in France it was a disaster, cautioned in the mid-1800s that “there are no absolute principles [for judging countries] under the sun.”

The 24-hour economy is emblematic of what the 1998 Nobel Laureate, Amartya Sen in his 1999 classic describes as “Development as Freedom” (the removal of various types of unfreedoms that leave people with little choice and little opportunity to do the things they have reason to value). These freedoms include the capabilities to avoid basic deprivations such as hunger, homelessness, avoidable morbidity, premature death, and insufficient employment. They also include the freedoms associated with being educated and numerate, freedom from fear of neglect at old age or in sickness, and freedom of political participation as well as of uncensored speech among others.

The increased economic productivity, diversified agriculture, speedy industrialization, and service sector vitality of the 24-hour economy will provide the capabilities to live a life of freedom.

If there is any truth in the old saying that everything fine is difficult, the condition of work and happiness that would be secured from the freedoms delivered by the 24-hour economy cannot be achieved without effort. Thus, the attainment of the vital aims of the Party’s policy must be worked for. Such will require the support of all Ghanaians, who must do as the Americans did in 1932 in their hour of need when they endorsed FDR and his New Deal plan. Endorsing JDM on December 7, 2024, will ensure victory for his 24-hour economy and freedom for all Ghanaians.

Source:
NDC USA CHAPTER COMMUNICATION AND RESEARCH BEREAU

Signed: HAJIA Rukaya Abubakari
NDC USA CHAPTER COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER